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Children’s Parliament

Children’s Leadership

At Margaret Hendry School we put children at the centre. Our vision is of a community of empowered learners who are inspired to become the innovators of the future. We realise this in all teaching and learning experiences, and through children’s leadership opportunities that are designed to give children a real voice in the organisation of our school.

We believe that fostering agency is critical to children succeeding in their chosen pathways, and are always on the lookout for new ways to engage children. What follows are the children’s leadership opportunities of 2025. We look forward to these opportunities growing, inspiring, and taking off in new directions to develop new opportunities in the years to come.

Children's Parliament

Our Children’s Parliament was established at the end of 2019 during the school’s foundation year, and has provided a consistent representative voice for children to have their say on school structures, policies, improvement works, learning experiences and opportunities. Our Ministers and Deputy Ministers are elected from the incoming year 6 class at the end of school year, and the children work both as a collective and in individual ministries to create change within our community.

Our 2025 Ministries include:

The children involved in Parliament as Ministers and Deputy Ministers represent the children of their electorates in weekly meetings where they engage with civics and leadership theory, collaborate in portfolios on inquiries that work towards school improvement, and to sit as a Parliamentary cabinet. These meetings are supported by a member of staff who acts in the role of Parliamentary Whip.

At Margaret Hendry School each term has an assigned inquiry focus. Children’s Parliament uses the opportunity for inquiry to better understand the needs of our school community and to work towards making positive improvements at our school. Each ministry investigates how they can make a difference within their portfolio, and based on consultation with children across the school puts actions into place.

Hendry's Hounds

In 2024 Hendry’s Hounds began working as our children’s media unit, sharing important information with children across the school in a weekly school news broadcast. Hendry’s Hounds leaders are nominated by home learning coaches from the year 5 and 6 cohort and are supported by staff to create media that is shared across the school to support communication and to celebrate children’s activities and achievements. Selections for leadership roles are based on enthusiasm, vision, aptitude and merit.

In 2025 Hendry’s Hounds will meet weekly as a team to plan upcoming episodes of the news, develop plans for and produce the yearbook, and participate in theoretical and practical lessons on cinematography, digital video editing, and digital design. Meetings are supported by a member of staff.

Hendry’s Hounds uses the opportunity for inquiry to better understand how children communicate and what information is important to them. They apply their findings through media production and are responsive to feedback from our school community.

Debating

Debating is a formal way of communicating ideas and arguments. It builds public speaking skills, critical thinking skills, teamwork and confidence. It is a phenomenal skill for leaders to have.

Debating is new to Margaret Hendry School in 2025. The debating form will be explicitly taught by a member of staff who will coach children in the rules, structure, argument and preparation required for team debating.

The structure of how Debating will run is still in development. Pending children’s interest, the plan is for two three-person teams with a leader assigned to each team. The children involved will meet weekly with the member of staff to practise debating skills and will ultimately research and debate topics that are important to our school community. They will present findings to a variety of different stakeholders including Children’s Parliament, our school leadership team, the school board and our P&C.

We look forward to seeing how debating strengthens children’s voices!

Community Group Leaders

At Margaret Hendry School we have four Community Groups: Alcott, Mabo, Pitt and Steer, each named after individuals who embody the spirit of our school pillars.

Children meet in Community Groups to build a sense of belonging at school. Through our Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL) acknowledgement system children accrue points for their Community Groups, and they celebrate their achievements together, including at sporting events.

In 2025 we will be introducing Community Group leaders. Two year 6 children will be chosen from each Community Group to lead. Leaders will work towards building Community Group spirit and engagement, and creating a sense of belonging amongst children and staff. They will celebrate achievements and communicate important information.